Environmental Group To Sue Over Salmon

Do more to protect Coho salmon or we will sue. That's the message Tuesday from an environmental group.

The Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund on Wednesday warned the Oregon Department of Forestry that it plans to file a lawsuit to stop logging on private lands in the Coast Range unless more is done to protect threatened Coho.

The group, with the slogan "Because the Earth needs a good lawyer," says that it will seek an injunction unless the state agrees to make changes to the Oregon Forest Practices Act, KOIN 6 News reports.

The act regulates logging on private- and state-owned land to comply with the Endangered Species Act. The Oregon Forest Practices Act currently allows timber companies log in slide-prone areas and along stream, a move that many environmentalists say is hurtful to salmon.

Patti A. Goldman of Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund says that Oregon is not on the right path. She hopes that the move will be a wake-up call for the state.

If the state does not respond, the suit will be filed in 60 days.